Communication devices may transmit and receive communication signals through a communication medium. In one example, the communication medium may be a wireless communication medium where communication signals are transmitted and received by communication devices according to a wireless communication protocol. Example wireless communication protocols may include IEEE 802.11 protocols and Bluetooth® protocols according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. In another example, the communication medium may be a wired communication medium where the communication signals are transmitted and received according to a wire-based communication protocol. Some example wire-based protocols may include an Ethernet® protocol and/or a Powerline Communications protocol described by the HomePlug 2.0 specification. In yet another example, the communication medium may be a hybrid combination of wired and wireless communication mediums.
Power amplifiers may be used to amplify wireless and/or wired communication signals for transmission through the communication medium. Output power provided by the power amplifier may vary over time. For example, a communication signal may have a relatively large peak-to-average amplitude ratio. The output power provided by the power amplifier may vary in response to the amplitude of the communication signal. As a result, accurate (e.g., linear) amplification of the communication signal is needed through the varying output power range. Inaccurate (e.g., non-linear) amplification may introduce errors in the transmitted communication signal.
Thus, there is a need to improve performance of the power amplifier over varying output power ranges and thereby increase performance of the communication device.